At the show, GenieConnect Business Development Director Michael Douglas explained to IMR's James Latham how beacon technology has applications for organizers and exhibitors as the event app provider builds on its three-year rollout. "There's been a little bit of a ceiling on the sort of interactivity we can offer," he said. "These beacons are very inexpensive and can be very versatile. We're seeing some great experimentation with them now."

The beacons can aid with fast-track registration, Douglas noted, letting people arrive at the event and just collect their pre-printed badges, keeping lines (and wasted time) to a minimum. At booths, exhibitors can use the beacons to send promotional messages to nearby attendees.

Douglas also explained how the organization is developing attendee participation via the mobile event app and also its online attendee web portal "event wall" using OmniStream, a curated content software platform that lets organizers manage the flow of event and user-generated content as further enhancements to attendee participation.

"You're able to seed it and control it with your own content," Douglas explained about the platform. For events, this could include upcoming sessions or special functions, dedicated messages that offer more exposure to certain programs.

"As the technology has improved and become more interactive onsite, rather than just providing information, we're seeing the business case for much smaller events," Douglas said. Even small gatherings of just a few hundred people can be improved by interactivity, he added, with audience responses providing much-needed feedback.